Louisiana river project sparks contentious debate

Dec. 13, 2012
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by Rick Jervis, USA TODAY

by Rick Jervis, USA TODAY

NEW ORLEANS -- To coastal scientists, releasing thousands of gallons of fresh water into southern Louisiana's briny swampland would help revitalize wetlands that have vanished over the years.

To St. Bernard Parish oysterman Sam Slavich, the thought is like a noose tightening around his livelihood. Freshwater diversions that were opened to repel crude from the 2010 BP oil spill may have contributed to 70% of his oyster harvests dying.

A repeat of that could put him and dozens of his oyster-harvesting colleagues out of business for good, he said.

"Oysters are part of our culture," said Slavich, a third-generation oysterman. "You need to really think carefully before doing anything to jeopardize the continuance of that species."

A sizable chunk of the $4.5 billion the Department of Justice recently fined BP for its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be headed to Louisiana soon to kick-start coastal restoration projects, some of which have been drawn up for years but lacked funding, according to state coastal officials.

At the top of the list: river diversions that would siphon fresh water from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers and send them into marshes that have been mauled over the years primarily because river levees kept fresh water out of the marshes, said Garrett Graves, director of coastal activities for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican. The BP oil spill further battered the coast, he said.

Resistance to the projects from oyster harvesters and other commercial fishers - who warn the fresh water could kill oysters and chase off the speckled trout, blue crab and other staples of the state's seafood industry - underscores the challenges faced with spreading billions of dollars in BP fines and settlements across a diverse Gulf Coast still reeling from effects from the spill.

"Huge waste of money," Dean Blanchard, owner of a Grand Isle seafood processor, said of the diversion projects. Besides threatening oysters, the fresh water won't be able to keep up with the flow of salt water entering the marshes and could pose a greater flood threat to communities in the lower stretches of the state, such as Grand Isle, he said.

Graves said the diversions would close when a storm nears and would not flood lower communities.

"I don't believe in messing with the river," Blanchard said. "They keep cutting holes in it and it's going to kill a lot of people some day."

If approved by a federal judge, the plea agreement between BP and the Justice Department will send $1.2 billion of the criminal fines to Louisiana, where it would go to fund projects in the state's coastal master plan â?? a comprehensive, 50-year, $50 billion blueprint for saving Louisiana's rapidly disappearing coastline, Graves said.

Graves said he has heard the opposition to some of the projects. But faced with a coast that has lost more than 2,000 square miles of land â?? an area the size of Delaware â?? since the 1920s, state officials have no choice but to stick to the master plan, he said.

"You have two choices: You move the oysters, or you move the people," Graves said. "In 100% of those cases, we're going to move the oysters."

One of the key projects set to be funded with BP money is a controlled diversion on the west bank of the Mississippi about 30 miles downriver from New Orleans, Graves said. The $500 million project, known as the Mid-Barataria Diversion, would be capable of sending fresh water into surrounding marshes at a rate of up to 250,000 cubic feet per second â?? enough to fill the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in eight minutes â?? although the diversion would rarely be opened that high, he said.

That area has witnessed some of the most dramatic land loss, and the freshwater infusion would help replenish surrounding marshes, said John Lopez, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. The wetlands serve as an important buffer against hurricanes and protect cities such as New Orleans from debilitating storm surges, he said.

Oysters require a delicate balance of fresh and salt water to survive, said Tom Soniat, a University of New Orleans oyster biologist. Flushing the area with fresh water could debilitate oyster beds that have taken harvesters years to build, he said. Unlike fish and shrimp, oysters are attached to hard surfaces on the seafloor and can't be relocated easily.

For Slavich, the diversions threaten a family business that began in 1902 when his grandfather migrated from Croatia to St. Bernard Parish. Large influxes of fresh water could finish what the BP spill started and shutter the family business, he said.

"It's great we got funding. Funding is important - but you have to use the funding to do the right thing," Slavich said. "This has the potential to be very detrimental."